The scientific inquiry process is what scientists use to come up with questions, design experiments to gather reliable data, and begin to find solutions.

If you visit ten different websites, you will find ten different ways to organize these steps. Not everyone agrees with how to organize the process, but here it's split into four main sections to help you complete your science fair project: Purpose, Experiment, Discussion, and Post Experimentation.

Each section will be discussed in more detail later. The four sections include the seven steps of the inquiry process: (1) Problem Question, (2) Hypothesis, (3) Materials, (4) Procedure, (5) Data, (6) Results, and (7) Conclusion.

The four main sections include the following:
  • Purpose
  • Experiment
    • Materials
    • Procedure
    • Data
  • Discussion
    • Results
    • Conclusion
  • Post Experimentation
    • Title
    • Abstract
    • Display (a final project is not limited to only one venue and may include some or all of the following examples)
      • scientific poster
      • display board
      • website